Marathon Technologies released a software-only solution today that provides fault tolerance and high availability for symmetrical multiprocessing (SMP) and multi-core CPU servers. Dubbed everRun MX, the software enables users to eliminate server, application and I/O downtime in Windows environments without purchasing specialized fault-tolerant hardware.
Based on Marathon’s ComputeThru technology, everRun MX is designed to reduce the need for system/VM restarts and data recovery/restore (although the company does recommend implementing standard backup and recovery procedures.) The software can be implemented with direct-attached storage (DAS), eliminating the need to deploy a SAN for high availability purposes (although everRun MX can also be used in conjunction with a SAN).
“A lot of people approach high availability from a storage perspective, and deploy a SAN for fault tolerance,” says Rob Ciampa, vice president of marketing at Marathon, “but a SAN is expensive and doesn’t provide full fault tolerance. everRun MX can eliminate the need for a SAN.”
everRun MX protects against all types of failure, including server (physical and virtual), software, I/O and storage. The software includes three key modules:
–A Component Management element interfaces with network and storage I/O on protected servers
–Availability Manager maintains synchronization between server, network and storage resources
— Workload Manager supports multiple workloads and VMs, as well as application consolidation
Storage-specific features of the software include safeguards to protect storage and data against corruption during mirror copies, and the ability to add disks with pre-existing data to a protected virtual machine (VM).
Pricing for everRun MX starts at $10,000. The software does not require application-level customization or scripting.
Market researcher IDC estimates that revenue loss per hour for midsize companies ranges from $60,000 to $1 million, and that end-user productivity loss adds another $4,000 to $22,000 per hour.
